Comic-Con: ‘Lost’ gives back to the fans
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Those who asked a question during the ‘Lost’ standing-room-only session were well-rewarded.
Executive producers Damon Lindelof (who was wearing a convention-appropriate ‘SAVE SNAPE’ T-shirt) and Carlton Cuse bought a bottomless box of goodies for fans — think something like Mary Poppinsâ carpet bag -- all direct from the set of the ABC series.
But perhaps even more important than swag, the Comic-Con crowd was privy to a secret video — which will be available online soon, no doubt. The clip showed out-of-uniform Dharma Initiative scientist Marvin Candle (or Edgar Halliwax, depending on which of his videos you’re watching) urging those watching the video to reconstitute the Dharma Initiative, but all was quickly cut off by an unknown video recorder.
Here’s a rundown of ‘Lost’ fans’ burning questions and the prizes that went with them:
Q: When the hatch imploded and the sky turned purple did the island move then? Like it did when Ben moved it (more recently)?
Damon Lindelof: No. But something happened and that’s an excellent question.
Prize: an Oceanic Airlines bottle of water
Q: Are Jin and Locke dead?
Carlton Cuse: Jin and Locke will still be on the show in some form. You’ve not seen the last of either of those characters. You know, dead is a relative term. In the timelines of those characters there’s still a lot of story to be told.
Prize: Jin’s panda bear doll.
Q: Is ‘Lost’ coming back next year?
DL: Weâre doing 17 hours in February 2009 and 17 hours in 2010.
Prize: A ‘Lost’ calendar.
Q: Favorite episode and favorite season?
CC: ‘The Constant’ would be my favorite episode. I think in terms of favorite seasons, the first one was so amazing and we were trying to figure everything out; yeah, just the excitement and terror of it.
DL: The Season One finale with the raft launch and all of that stuff. It was back when the show could be hopeful before it degraded into despair. And for favorite season? Season Four; everyone worked really hard. You will be rewarded for hanging in until Season Six.
CC: For us it was a huge advantage to get an end date to the show; it really reinvigorated us.
Prize: Apollo bar and an Apollo T-shirt.
Q: I just wanted to slap you around for the Jin and Sun episode -- you guys are naughty.
DL: For slapping us around, here are some ‘Heroes’ DVDs. It’s a much better show than ours. Enjoy!
Prize: ‘Heroes’ DVD box set
Q: Are we going to get a (Danielle Rousseau) flashback? Will you definitively say in front of 6,500 of us that there will be one?
CC: We will say this: You will see Rousseau’s story. But to use the word flashback would be disingenuous. Weâre going to do flashbacks and flash-forwards next season, but weâll mostly be doing something different.
DL: Danielle Rousseau will be in Season Five.
Prize: âLostâ luggage tags
At this point, someone asked a question about whether production would continue under âthe new SAG contract,â to which Lindelof replied that he wasnât aware there was a new one yet -- there isnât -- but reassured shooting would continue regardless. For asking the question, the guy received the best worst prize of the lot: Photographs of the actors who played short-lived Nikki and Paulo. âWho wouldnât want that?â Lindeloff asked. âYes, two SAG actors,â said Cuse.
Q: Do your own mothers not know how the show will end?
CC: They like to be in the dark.
Prize: A life jacket signed by all the writers.
Q: Where is our special guest?
DL: The actors [are] scattered all over the world at the moment, so itâs almost a Herculean task to get any of them out here.
Prize: Signed box set of all seasons of the show.
Q: What happened to [the dog] Vincent?
DL: Vincent made it and will appear in season five. Safe to say heâll make it to the end of the show.
Prize: Polar bear doll
Q: Are Jack and Kate your one true pairing and will they end up together?
CC: There it is. Someone who asked a real question, a ballsy question that gets right to the heart of the story and the mythology -- we canât answer it.
DL: Sir, we can not tell you the answer to that question. Obviously weâre very invested in that relationship.
Prize: Jack Shepherd autographed doll ⦠delivered by surprise guest Matthew Fox.
Q: Will Kate ever see Sawyer again?
DL: Not if Jack has anything to say about it! No, yes, Kate will see Sawyer again
Prize: A signed âLostâ poster
Q: Now that the island has moved, what happened to the survivors and Daniel Faraday?
DL: You refer to the Zodiac boat and the non-line speakers, right? Sadly, there is a monsoon a cominâ for some...
Prize: An authentic Faraday tie. âFor those of you wondering why Faraday is wearing a tie on the island, stay tuned,â Lindeloff said.
Q: Flash-forwards, how are you going to limit yourselves?
DL: When Season Five starts, you wonât know where and when you are. The way weâre gonna tell stories is gonna be different too.
CC: We organized a bit differently; if we were constrained by FF and FB that that was not gonna be the best way to tell our stories.
Prize: Hanso foundation hat.
Q: How does this show end?
CC: It ends well, we hope -- we canât answer that.
Prize: A six pack of Dharma drinks
Q: Do you ever come up with stuff like, letâs make Kate a dude, or do you have it all planned out from the beginning?
CC: You canât have It all planned out. We actually try to write ourselves into corners every day. What we try to avoid is filming that without knowing the answers. We try to puzzle our way out of situations.
Prize: DryErase eraser signed by CC and DL
Q: How old is Richard Alpert and how many toes does he have?
CC: Thatâs a really good question. He is quite old. Weâve hinted that people age differently on the island and people heal. That is hopefully an engaging mystery that will keep you tuning in. You will learn more about Richard Alpert.
DL: Youâre gonna see his toes too.
Prize: A T-shirt that says: âI asked a Richard Alpert a question and all I got what this lousy T-shirt.â
-- Denise Martin
Correction: Danielle Russo was misspelled. It has been corrected to read Rousseau.